South Carolina's Ballot Referendum Conundrum

With SC Legislators gatekeeping abortion from the ballot, voters have another way to unite on the matter

Photo credit: Travis Bell/STATEHOUSE CAROLINA

I hear it often, “Why doesn’t South Carolina put abortion on the ballot like these other states have?”

The answer is simple: we can’t. More accurately, South Carolina legislators stop it from happening.

South Carolina is one of 24 states prohibiting citizens from petitioning for ballot access for initiatives. Instead, two-thirds of both legislative chambers must vote to approve a ballot referendum in the Palmetto State. This year, for example, South Carolina voters will get to vote to amend state law about how explicitly it must be stated that one cannot vote if they are not a citizen of the United States. But the odds of two-thirds of both the SC House and Senate agreeing to put abortion on the ballot for the voters to voice their opinion on are slim to none. Many view this as a confession of the unpopularity of the state’s abortion ban, seeing how even in the reddest of states, abortion referendums have passed favorably every time.